Fairness of insurance caps is questioned

This fall she's had two cases of shingles and one of vertigo, in part because her immune system is still weak.

"She's definitely half the person that she was," said Monaco, who's also out of work and getting covered through COBRA. Their Sam Goody store in Deptford closed in January. "She was fun-loving, teasing, outgoing, funny, and it's pretty heartbreaking to see what's happened to her. But she seems to be coming back."

In November 2007, Brockington was approved for Social Security disability, and began receiving $944 a month.

But that disability income is eaten by co-pays, living expenses, car insurance.

She will be eligible for Medicare - but not until next November. When Congress extended Medicare to include the disabled in 1972, it imposed a two-year wait, which still exists today.

Brockington then tried to get Medicaid, medical coverage for the poor. She applied in New Jersey, but because she owns a mobile home in Delaware, and is licensed to drive there, New Jersey told her to apply there, she said.

Delaware officials, she said, told her that with a $944 disability income, she earns too much to qualify for Medicaid. She plans to apply again soon in New Jersey under a program called Ticket to Work. She has been living in Lawnside for years with her mother and sister - commuting to work in Deptford long before she got sick.

She cannot afford to buy private insurance.

Brockington has spent all her savings - $10,000 - since she lost her insurance.

Now she is more than $16,000 in debt, she said, and a collection agent - very pleasant - called Wednesday about a $2,400 medical bill.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where she had her bone marrow transplant, continues to give her the care she needs - including Tuesday's biopsy - although she continues to get bills. Jefferson will give her some level of charity care if her Medicaid applications are rejected, their executives said.

"Nobody should lose their health insurance," she said the other day, sitting under a blanket in Lawnside. "There should be something else you should be able to get. So this is something you don't have to worry about when you get sick. Worrying about bills, that just makes you sicker."

What Went Wrong

Karlin Brockington, 44, was working and paying each month for her health insurance like millions of Americans. In May 2007, she was diagnosed with leukemia. By September 2008, after a bone-marrow transplant and other costly treatments, she reached the $2 million lifetime limit on her policy.

Then she lost her health insurance.

Even though she's in remission, Brockington still needs significant medical care. She has been scrambling since Labor Day, spending the last dollar of her savings and accumulating medical bills topping $16,000.